Crusted Old Tawny

[djewesbury]

In 'Clouds Of Witness', Lord Peter Wimsey - elsewhere a Port aficionado (if the use of the Spanish is not a grave error) - describes someone as "Tory and diplomatic, and - well, quite crusted old tawny, so to speak."

The book was written in 1926. Has anyone ever heard of such a Port having existed?

[DRT]

I think the word crusted was commonly used to describe Port that had thrown a crust, regardless of whether that crust was sticking to the side of a glass bottle or a wooden pipe. Basically, there were no rules to dictate how Port was described prior to the 1930s and I have no idea when the current use of the word crusted came into common usage to specifically describe non-vintage Port aged in glass.